


steadfast

by cosmicpoet



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-26
Updated: 2017-11-26
Packaged: 2019-02-07 07:16:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12836055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmicpoet/pseuds/cosmicpoet
Summary: Kaito just wants to get Maki out of her room, for her own sake. Definitely not because he's falling for her. He just has a stubbornness to get her outside that matches her stubbornness to stay inside.





	steadfast

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dodono](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dodono/gifts).



Kaito Momota has never, not once in his life, given up on something. From the infinitesimally small to the grandiosely large, every task he sets his mind to ends up, one way or another, being accomplished. He doesn’t feel satisfied otherwise; it’s just a part of who he is.

But this – this is _hard._ Because unlike opening a tough bottle without a bottle opener, or walking home in the rain, Kaito is now faced with an opponent whose stubbornness matches his determination in equal measure. And she’s sitting on the other side of the door to her talent lab. Although Kaito can’t see her, he can picture her face right now: stubborn, scowling, and incredibly, impossibly beautiful.

He’s not ashamed to admit that this is probably what falling in love feels like. It feels a lot like finding refuge in danger, and, more practically, it feels like sitting on a hard floor with his back against a closed door for so long that his body feels numb, but his determination won’t let him get up until she comes outside.

“Maki Roll,” he says for the fifth time in the past ten minutes, “you know I’m not leaving until you come outside.”

She doesn’t respond. After the first hour, she gave up on trying to convince him to go away, and Kaito presumes that she’s trying to ignore his voice as she does whatever it is she’s doing in there. He can understand – Kokichi revealing her true talent to everyone in the last class trial must have hit her hard – but there’s no way she can lock her problems away forever. And he’s offering to help, damn it. He just wants her to know that she’s not alone in the killing game, and as long as he’s by her side, he’ll make sure that she’s not a target. He’ll even make sure that they survive together, if only so that he can take her on a real date.

“You can’t hide forever,” he says, “you’ve gotta come out sometime. You haven’t eaten since the class trial.”

“That’s only been a few hours,” comes a faint, muffled reply from behind the door.

“Still! At some point, you’ll have to leave.”

“Not if you’re still outside, I won’t.”

Kaito sits in silence, imagining that Maki is on the opposite side of the door, her back to his, separated only by the walls of this killing game. He likes thinking about what she looks like when she smiles, what she sounds like when she laughs, even if these imaginations only exist in the hypothetical realm of his life.

“Listen, I’m not leaving until you come out. Except, maybe, y’know, to go to the toilet or somethin’.”

Kaito imagines that he hears her say _“fine,”_ but it really is all just in his head.

* * *

 

The next morning, as the announcement sounds, Kaito jumps up in surprise. He must have fallen asleep outside Maki’s lab, because he’s still on the floor, and it hurts a lot to move when he feels so uncomfortable.

“Back in an hour, Maki Roll! I’m going to shower and get us some food!”

After showering and getting dressed back in his own room, Kaito heads to the kitchen to pile up two plates full of breakfast. Shuichi asks him where he’s been, but he rushes out of the door with only a half-assed explanation. He wants to get back to Maki’s lab as quickly as possible.

Upon returning, he’s a little disappointed to see that her door is still closed. He’s not disheartened, and certainly not stripped of any of his determination, but in his mind he’d imagined that she’d have at least opened it a little for him.

“Maki Roll, I’m back,” he says, “and I brought you breakfast. I didn’t know what you wanted so I got you a bit of everything. Hey, maybe when we get to know each other better, you can tell me your favourite foods, and then we’ll be even closer to being best friends!”

“We’re not even regular friends, Kaito,” she says, but opens the door slightly and pulls the plate inside. Kaito smiles.

“You could have forced the door open just then,” she says, and Kaito perks up upon hearing her initiate conversation, “why didn’t you?”

“Because you have to come out on your own terms! I’m not gonna force you to do anything,” he starts eating his breakfast, “but I’m sure as hell gonna persuade you!”

“You’re not doing a very good job so far.”

“Well,” he thinks for a moment, “if I can’t persuade you out of there, I’ll just have to, oh, I don’t know, _annoy_ you out of there?”

“What do you –”

Maki can’t even finish her sentence before Kaito starts singing. He _knows_ he’s terrible, completely off-key, and every time he hits a high note he’s pretty sure the world collapses a little, but this isn’t supposed to be cute or romantic. No, it’s _definitely_ not supposed to be romantic. It’s just Kaito, singing some cheesy song by The Carpenters, hoping to draw Maki out of her room like pouring water into a rabbit’s hole.

“Oh god, Kaito,” she says loudly, “you’re _terrible._ Stop.”

“I’ll stop when you come out,” he momentarily pauses his song and hears her breathe a sigh of relief.

“Okay, so if singing won’t work, then what about poetry? I reckon I could try my hand at that.”

“Don’t you dare.”

“Hang on, let me think for a sec…huh. I got one! You ready?  
_There once was a girl named Maki Roll_  
_Who was as fascinating as a black hole_  
_She was very pretty_  
_And this poem is shitty  
__But I wrote it with my heart and soul.”_

“I honestly hope you never do that again,” she says.

“Me too, that was shit, but it got ya talkin’!”

“Damn you,” Maki says, and Kaito hears the click of the door opening slightly. He peeks inside, and sees her face inches from his own, looking at him with a hardened expression and a softness in her eyes that she can’t glare away.

“Got you outside,” he says, and laughs.

“I’m not out yet,” she replies, “but soon.”

“There’s no better time than the present!”

“Everyone will –”

“Fuck everyone. I’ll be by your side, okay?”

“Fine,” she says. The door opens and she takes Kaito’s outstretched hand, as they walk into the hallway together.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! I wrote this for my wonderful friend Dodo, who always supports me when I'm writing my multichapter kaimaki fic.
> 
> The song Kaito is singing is 'Close to You' by The Carpenters.
> 
> As always, have an awesome day! :D


End file.
